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Two members of the Massachusetts State Police walk toward the front door of the home of New England Patriot's NFL football player Aaron Hernandez in North Attleborough, Mass., Wednesday, June 19, 2013. Their knock on the door went unanswered. State and local police spent hours at the home Tuesday as another group of officers searched an industrial park about a mile away where a body was discovered the day before. (AP Photo/Erika Niedowski)

BOSTON (AP) — A man found dead in an industrial park about a mile from New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez's home had been killed, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

The state medical examiner identified the man as 27-year-old Odin Lloyd and ruled he was a homicide victim, Bristol District Attorney Samuel Sutter's office said. Lloyd's family said he was a semi-pro football player with a connection to Hernandez, whose home was searched by police.

Lloyd's mother, Ursula Ward, had said earlier police had told her the body was that of her son, who played for the Boston Bandits.

Ward would not say how Lloyd knew Hernandez, a Bristol native, and did not say if police told her how her son died. An uncle said Lloyd had a connection to Hernandez but wouldn't elaborate.

State police returned for the second day Wednesday to Hernandez's sprawling home in an upscale subdivision in North Attleborough, on the Rhode Island state line not far from the Patriots' stadium in Foxborough. They referred questions about their investigation to Sutter, the district attorney.

Sutter's office said investigators were asking for the public's help to find a silver mirror cover believed to have broken off a car between Boston and North Attleborough.

Hernandez's attorney, Michael Fee, acknowledged media reports about the state police search of Hernandez's home as part of an investigation but said he and the player wouldn't have any comment on it.

Sports Illustrated, citing an unidentified source, reported Tuesday that Hernandez was not believed to be a suspect in what was being treated then as a possible homicide.

Two troopers knocked on the door of Hernandez's house Wednesday morning, but no one answered. The night before, police spent hours there as another group of officers searched the industrial park.

Later Wednesday, at least seven state troopers searched both sides of a road just off the street where Hernandez lives. The officers used thin poles to pull back plants and search through undergrowth along the road.

Hernandez returned home during the early afternoon Wednesday. He did not speak to a crowd of reporters staked out about 100 feet away.

The Patriots drafted Hernandez out of Florida in 2010. Since then, he has combined with Rob Gronkowski to form one of the top tight end duos in the NFL. He missed 10 games last season with an ankle injury and had shoulder surgery in April but is expected to be ready for training camp. Last summer, the Patriots gave him a five-year contract worth $40 million.

Patriots spokesman Stacey James said the team did not anticipate commenting publicly during the police investigation.

Sports Illustrated reported that the link between Hernandez and the case was a rented Chevrolet Suburban with Rhode Island plates that police had been searching for. The Associated Press could not independently confirm the report.

Lloyd's neighbor Larry Connors said a black Suburban with Rhode Island license plates was towed out of the yard of Lloyd's house after his body was found. Lloyd had been driving it for a few days, but Connors had never seen it before that.

Meanwhile, NFL.com reported that a complaint was filed in federal court in South Florida alleging that Hernandez accidentally shot another man in the face.

The complaint alleges that on Feb. 13 Hernandez and Alexander S. Bradley got in an argument while at a strip club in Miami-Dade County. Later, while driving toward Palm Beach County, a gun in Hernandez's possession discharged, hitting Bradley, the complaint says.

The shooting caused Bradley to lose his right eye, according to the lawsuit.

The case was voluntarily withdrawn Monday, but a lawyer representing Bradley told NFL.com that the case has not been resolved and that he filed a new complaint Wednesday.

He said the first complaint was withdrawn because of an error in the filing.

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